WHY didn’t I buy a ticket for the second Headstones show?! Augh…(insert sad, pitiful face here).

Oh Man! That band…what a show…GAAAAAAH!!!

Legendary radio personality, Howard Mandshein introduced Bif Naked and her new project “Snake And The Chain” and a middle aged guy came out in a kilt and sang “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.

Turns out that guy was Bif’s new Husband, Snake Allen. Snake cued some electronics, played a few notes on the bass, and the resulting distortion shook the whole room. I was rumbling in my seat.

If I’ve seen Bif Naked before, I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve probably seen her at some festival, but back in the day, I only cared about who I came to see, so I probably didn’t even notice her.

Tonight, I vowed to give her my undivided attention. My conclusion is that I really like Bif Naked. She’s fierce and a great showwoman; it was a pleasure to watch her perform.

This project on the other hand…meh…not for me. Most of the songs relied on that heavy distortion/crunchy sound and the lyrics were pretty raunchy. I think she sang “porn is my saviour” during the second song, and the third had a full chorus dedicated to swallowing during oral sex.

Bif Naked at Club Regent Event Centre. /PHOTO: Anne Martin

Bif intro’d her Husband and he tried to play a solo, but his bass kept cutting out, so he plugged in his cord, and the result was kind of underwhelming. Guirarist Kuryakin’s solo was a bit better, but again, he relied on a heck of a lot of distortion. Meh…I wasn’t feeling it and it seemed like a good chunk of the audience wasn’t either.

At the end of the show, (this is going to sound mean) but I felt like she should be playing with better musicians; a drummer would have been a good addition too.

I would definitely see her again, but this industrial/dance project just wasn’t for me.

The intermission felt really long. I had time to go to the washroom AND wonder about the exorbitant amount of security. I estimated the average audience age was at least 54 years old and I’m pretty sure their stage diving days were long gone.

Howard intro’d Headstones and compared singer, Hugh Dillon to the late Bon Scott (he shares that opinion a lot). I’m not well versed with AC/DC, but there’s no denying Hugh is an incredible performer. He’s commanding and has such stage presence. He’s one step below strutting on stage and urinating on everything while shouting “MINE! I OWN THIS! MINE NOW!”. He owns that stage. Heck, he owned that whole damn casino tonight.

The band ripped into the first tune and by the second, Hugh was weaving his way through the audience and the overworked stage hand was frantically feeding him his mic line.

Five songs later, that energy was still high and the crowd was completely engaged.

Club Regent crowd gets into Headstones show. /PHOTO: Anne Martin

Hugh injected plenty of The Tragically Hip lyrics in the middle of his songs. He did it with “Settle” and again with “Oh My God!”. The latter tune also featured “Low Rider” and my favourite, “Sympathy For The Devil”. It was fast and hard; LOVED IT.

There wasn’t a lot of banter, with only a few seconds between songs. Hugh did talk about doing acid with 54-40 and reminisced about playing at The Pyramid and how the band came close to death many times. These days, they’re just happy to be alive.

For some reason, my section was not interested in standing. I was alright with that – it’s really hard to take notes while standing – even though Hugh made fun of us a few times by crossing his arms and frowning. By “Smile And Wave” though, I had enough of sitting and chucked my notebook at my Husband and danced.

Headstones singer, Hugh Dillon. /PHOTO: Anne Martin

There was a three song encore which ended with “Cemetery” and the whole show was over in a little over an hour. That seems really short and ordinarily I’d feel ripped off, but honestly, the amount of energy those guys expel on stage and the amount of songs they covered, it felt just right.

Oh man, I am soooo jealous of everyone going to the second show on Monday, I wish I was going too. Headstones are always worth the price. Have fun!

The Community News Commons is a public media project established through grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Winnipeg Foundation, and supported by this community. The opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions or receive endorsement from The Winnipeg Foundation or the Knight Foundation.

Users indemnify and hold harmless Community News Commons, its partners and sponsors in issues related to content submitted.

All content on this website, unless otherwise notated, may be redistributed, subject to Creative Commons license "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs". However, all logos, marks, code and structure are property of the Community News Commons. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

Community News Commons is a website managed by The Winnipeg Foundation and subject to its website's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.